Placement

In many schools, placement in class is done according to age,
although there may be a system of streaming within year groups.
In language-teaching institutions, however, placing students in a
class at the right level, following an appropriate syllabus and with
a suitable social profile is a rather more challenging undertaking.

The balancing act

Good tests manage to balance reliability, validity and
practicality but, as you will know if you have followed
the guide to
testing on this site or have taken a good training course, the grail
of making a test which maximises the three variables is probably
unobtainable.
Placement testing needs to compromise to get the best results for
its purpose: putting learners in groups where they are challenged,
not overwhelmed and feel comfortable.

Validity

Content validity
Validity refers, among other things, to whether a test actually
tests what we think, or claim, it tests.
To maximise its validity, a placement test needs to match the
kinds of teaching that our institution delivers. For
example, in a school dedicated to preparing people for
examinations, the placement test has to measure how well the
learner is already able to achieve the kinds of tasks we are
training them to do in classes.
In a school focused on other areas, for example, preparing
people for study in an English-speaking institution or for the
workplace, the test will need to reflect those aims.
Despite the claims of those who develop placement tests for
commercial purposes, there is no one-size-fits-all test that
will be appropriate in all situations.
Nevertheless, there are commercially available tests which may
fit well with your institution's aims and approaches and which
are affordable and can be easily administered. Some will
even come with an on-line marking system to give you instant
results. If an off-the-peg test is what you need, then a
little research will enable you to track down professionally
designed and attractive tests.
If that is not appropriate, you, the Academic Manager, will have
to select, design or develop testing materials which are valid
for the aims of your teaching programme.

Face validity
This is an important criterion to consider because learners need
to trust the outcomes of the test and to do that it has to look
like a fair test and be long enough and searching enough for the
learner to feel that the results will be a proper measure.
You may believe, and you may be right, that you can place a
learner accurately in a class by chatting to them for five
minutes or assessing their writing of a 100-word application.
Most learners will not see that as a valid test and will not
trust its outcomes.
If, later, they feel that they have been misplaced, the feeling
will be intensified by the thought that they were not properly
assessed in the first place.

Reliability

Just as important is the knowledge that the test will produce
comparable results whoever takes the test, whoever marks it and
where it is taken.

The environment
Few schools have the luxury of setting aside a space where only
placement testing occurs so the physical conditions are
standard and unchanging.
Nevertheless, you need to give some thought to whether a test
completed by someone sitting in a noisy corridor with the test
balanced on one knee and another person taking the test in a
quiet office at a desk with a proper chair will be comparable in
terms of reflecting the test-takers' ability.
Care needs to be taken to neutralise variability in the
environment.

The markerThe more objectively marked the test is, the less
subject the results will be to marker variability. Many
placement tests include assessment of learners' oral
ability and this is often accomplished through an interview.
Even if the same person conducts the tests, variability can
creep in if the procedure isn't carefully scripted and
consistent each time it is carried out.

The test takers
Some people prefer to work slowly and methodically through a
test without making guesses. Others are more willing to
take risks and have a stab at the right answer even if they
don't know.
In the first case, someone who completes, say, only half a
multiple-choice test but scores 40% overall may be at a higher
level than someone who has completed the whole test and gets the
same score because the second person might get 25% of the
answers right by guessing from the four possibilities in each
question.

Practicality

This is the final important area.

In large organisations where many prospective new students
have to be tested and placed quickly (for example, at the
beginning of terms or in summer-school environments),
practicality is possible the most important criterion.
There is little point in administering a test if it takes so
long to mark, rank the results and interpret them that a day has
slipped by before you are ready start teaching.

At other times, you may have the luxury of only having one
or two tests to mark and assess with the students' classes not
starting imminently so time pressures are eased.

However, if a test is to perform both functions, as a mass
testing system and for the odd individual, it is the former
function which will take precedence. For the sake of
reliability, of course, you should not have two tests serving
these two functions because outcomes will very probably not be
comparable.

Whether a test is a computer-based or a pen-and-paper
exercise is also a question of practicality.
Computer-based tests are eminently practical if you want very
quick results. Pen-and-paper tests require some manual
marking, usually, and that is time consuming. There is
also the possibility of errors creeping into the marking
process.
If you need to test 50 learners at the same time, a
computer-based test will require 50 terminals. If you
don't have that kind of facility, then a pen-and-paper test is
your only viable option.

Getting learners to complete on-line tests before they
arrive at your institution's door is a popular and eminently
practical option in some settings but reliability is severely
compromised because you have no control at all over the
conditions.

A final constraint on practicality is oral testing because,
by its nature, it is at best a one-to-two setting and no one
person can possibly carry out a test for 100 learners in a day.
Having multiple assessors impacts negatively on reliability unless test
design, training and supervision are very efficient indeed.
That is not insuperable.

What to test

It is noted above that what you test will reflect the aims of
your teaching programme. If you are only teaching people to
take part in business meetings, then the ability to do so is what
you will test.
If, however, your concern is more with General English or the core
grammatical, functional and lexical aspects of the language, then a
much more general test is called for.
The first trap to avoid is only testing grammar.
In many settings around the world, multiple-choice grammar tests are
commonplace in classrooms and outside them. Learners from
backgrounds like these may perform well in such tests but have a
poor vocabulary and little idea of communicative functions.
They may also be good at recognising grammar, but
less able to use it.
Lexis and appropriacy are also easy to test via a multiple-choice
task format and should be mixed in to make the test as valid as
possible. Depending on your situation, you may also want to
test listening comprehension, spelling and a range of other skills.

Here's some help

For an example of a 100-item placement test for General English
purposes, you can do two things:

Click here for an on-line
test (new window or tab so close it to come back).

Click on these links for the same test in pen-and-paper
format.
Part 1
Part 2

The paper copies are not password protected so you can use them
as you like. The answer key is at the end of the paper
versions. If you use them, please make sure that you credit
this site. If you are using the test, consider whether it
might be appropriate to donate the price of a cup of coffee to the
charity of your choice each tenth time you use the test.
Thank you.

The test comes in two parts and there's a reason for that.
It was noted above that test-takers vary in their approaches so the
first half of the test is easier than the second part. Someone
who takes a long time to do the test but gets 80% of the first 50
questions right may well be at a higher level than someone who
rushes through and completes the test by guessing at the answers.
In a multiple-choice test like this, random answering will gain 25%
of the marks on offer.
For levels between A1 and B1, the first 50 questions will be a
reliable guide. Above that level, you'll need to take the
score from Part 2 into account.
Here's a scoring guide based on the Common European Framework levels
which start at A1 (the lowest level) and go up through A2, B1, B2,
C1 and C2 (the highest level).

Score

Level

Score

Level

Score

Level

Score

Level

Score

Level

Score

Level

0 – 15

A1

16 – 30

A2

31 – 50

B1

51 -– 70

B2

71 – 90

C1

91 +

C2

Testing oral skills

In addition to a pen-and-paper test of lexis, grammar and so on,
you probably want to gauge learners' oral / aural skills. A simple way to
do this is by talking to them, of course, but you need to be a bit
more careful than just having a chat.

The approach taken here is to have a scripted conversation which
is standard for all interviews. This way, even if you have
multiple interviewers, there is some chance of being able to
standardise the marking and placement procedure.
It works like this for interviews in pairs but if you are
interviewing one to one, you'll need to make small adjustments.
The age of the interviewee will also need to be taken into account
when selecting which questions to ask.

Interviews should not simply be question-and-answer sessions but
should allow the students to demonstrate their oral communicative
ability so don’t be afraid to ask more open-ended, follow-up
questions, and with students of B1 / B2 ability and above, ask them
to question their partner.
Remember: you are not judging formal grammatical accuracy
but the ability to understand and be understood.

Level descriptors for listening and speaking ability are taken from
the Common European Framework. They are:

A1:

Can understand
basic instructions or take part in a basic factual
conversation on a predictable topic.

A2:

Can express
simple opinions or requirements in a familiar context.

B1:

Can express
opinions on abstract/cultural matters in a limited way or
offer advice within a known area, and understand
instructions or public announcements.

B2:

Can follow or
give a talk on a familiar topic or keep up a conversation on
a fairly wide range of topics.

C1:

Can contribute
effectively to meetings and seminars within own area of work
or keep up a casual conversation with a good degree of
fluency, coping with abstract expressions.

C2:

Can advise on
or talk about complex or sensitive issues, understanding
colloquial references and dealing confidently with hostile
questions.

Don’t try to work through all the levels – stop the interview
where it is clear that communication has broken down and enter a
score for the last level at which
communication was reasonably successful.

Suggested questions / elicitations

Later questions will be influenced by earlier answers so you’ll need
to be flexible.
Questions – don’t ask all of them but don’t be afraid to ask
follow-up questions.

A1-level students should be able to respond comprehensibly
to these prompts but may not want or be able to volunteer much.

What’s your name?
Can you tell me your name?
Please tell me your name.
What’s your first language?
What’s your nationality?
How old are you?
What country do you come from?
Where do you live?

A2-level students should be able to respond comprehensibly
to these prompts and may be able to volunteer a little.

How do you spell your name?
How long are you staying in England?
Have you been to England before?
When did you arrive in England?
Do you have any brothers and sisters?
How old is / are he / she / they?
Do you live in the city or in the country?
Where in ... do you live, exactly?
Where do you go to school?
What sports do you like?

B1-level students should be able to respond comprehensibly
to these prompts and should also be able to volunteer
information.

Tell me about / Ask your partner about:
His / her / your home town.
His / her / your family.
His / her / your best friend(s).
His / her / your house / apartment.
His / her / your last
holiday.
His / her / your school and its teachers.
His / her / your country.
His / her / your class at school.

B2-level students should be able to respond comprehensibly
to these prompts and easily and naturally be able to volunteer
information.

What do you expect from your course with us?
What sorts of things
do you want to learn?
What sort of social activities do you like doing?
Tell me about your hobbies and interests. What do you enjoy doing in
your spare time?
What are / were your best subjects at school?
What subjects at school do / did you enjoy most?
Ask your partner about … (see the topics in this area).

C1-level students should be able to respond
comprehensibly to these prompts and easily and naturally be able to volunteer
considerable information.

What are your plans for the future? Do you think you’ll need to
speak English for that? Why?
Where else have you been in the world? Tell me about the things you
liked in …
What did you on your last holiday? What did you
like about it?
What sorts of sports do you play / books do you read and why do you
enjoy them?
Ask your partner about … (see the topics in this area).

C2-level students should be able to respond
comprehensibly to these prompts and easily and naturally be able to volunteer
information and take turns in the conversation.

Tell me about the best / most important thing that’s ever happened
to you. What made it so good / important?
Tell me about yourself. What sort of a person are you? What are your
strengths and weaknesses?
Tell me about your ambitions. What qualities would you need to do
that?
Ask your partner about … (see the topics in this area).
The ability to initiate, produce and respond to follow-up
questions is important at this level.

Making class groups

The whole purpose of placement testing is, naturally, to give you
the data from which you can build groups of learners or place
individuals into already formed groups.
In an ideal world, groups would have a comfortable mix of sexes,
ages, first languages, interests and personalities but the world
isn't ideal.
In most settings, you should expect the results of testing lots of
learners to give you a bell curve of abilities with fewer learners
at the bottom and top and most occupying a spot somewhere between A1
and C2 level (if, indeed, you have any students at all at those
levels).
Typically, it will look something like this:
Which means with large numbers of learners that you will be able to
build classes with parallel levels in the centre of the range and
then you can, and should, take the mix of other, non-language
factors into account.